primitives, including Pedro Picasso, discuss medical insurance for adult kids

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.org/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7004069

Oh my.

It's an enormous bonfire.

Hello_Kitty  (1000+ posts)        Thu Nov-12-09 09:04 PM
Original message
 
I'm sorry but "you can stay on your parents' plan until you're 27" 

Is not the answer to the problem of young adults not having insurance. Sure, it's great if you've got generous parents and are willing to allow yourself to remain under their control. (Think some people won't use it as an excuse to meddle in their grown children's lives? Think again.) But what if your parents are also uninsured? What if they're on state aid? What if they have insurance but can't afford to add you to their policy and you can't afford your share of the premium either? Also, how would it work if you lived in a different state from your parents?

Why 27? Why put any age limit on it? If someone wants to add their 33 year old child to their policy why can't they? And what if your parents are dead? Can you get on your aunt and uncle's policy?

I understand it's not the only option available to young adults and they're not going to be forced to be on their parents' policy (or at least I hope not) but I keep hearing politicians and pundits putting out the "you can stay on your parents' policy" first and foremost as a solution to uninsured young adults.

EndersDame  (1000+ posts)      Thu Nov-12-09 09:05 PM
Response to Original message
 
1. I lost my insurance when I turned 21

virgogal (1000+ posts)      Thu Nov-12-09 09:07 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. Usually you have to live at the same address==unless full time college.

emulatorloo  (1000+ posts)      Thu Nov-12-09 09:08 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. Not sure why you think it is so horrible. A couple dads I know think it is a good thing

Her Stoutness the silly primitive:

SoCalDem  (1000+ posts)        Thu Nov-12-09 09:19 PM
Response to Reply #3
 
11. It's a cop out.

By the time Mom & Dad have a 27 yr old "child", they are probably into their "desperately saving for retirement" years, and once a child reaches that age, they should be on their own. I know it costs a lot to live these days, but "many" 27 yr olds I know personally, are living like aging teenagers, still mooching off Mom & Dad..

Those Moms & Dads are often also "helping" their aged parents.. a guy I know, who just turned 60 only lost his GRANDMOTHER last year, and he and his wife are supporting her Mom and his Dad, in addition to their 24 yr old son, daughter-in-law and their two kids..

when is enough, enough?

If a family is well off this is a great solution, but for waaaaay too many Boomers , especially those whose home values tanked, jobs got downsized/eliminated, or were made to "go part-time", their finances are not up to it.

Any parent who has ever financed something for a child, knows how easy it is for many of them to "not have the money this month. Mom"..

Hello_Kitty  (1000+ posts)        Thu Nov-12-09 09:38 PM
Response to Reply #11
 
23. Thanks. You bring up another aspect that I'd forgotten to mention.

It could be used an attempt to guilt parents into footing the bill for their adult children's health care so the government doesn't have to deal with them.

The Allentown dude primitive:

AllentownJake  (1000+ posts)        Thu Nov-12-09 09:10 PM
Response to Original message
 
5. The entire bill is one giant ****ing Band-aid

Which is what all the Democrats and President's plans are. Band-aid after ****ing band-aid on a ****ing 20 inch gash.

Instead of looking at a failed system these guys are doing all they can to prop it up, with shitty supports on a foundation of sand.

They are living in 2000, not 2009.

The above first comments show pretty much the flow of the bonfire.

Pedro Picasso:

Atman  (1000+ posts)        Thu Nov-12-09 09:25 PM
Response to Original message
 
15. I think you're over reaching. Or something.

So, you're saying that as long as you're "family," you should be able to ride along on mom and dad's policy, regardless of age? Stay on the family policy forever? Have you considered the practical, not to mention legal, ramifications?

Here in Connecticut, there are "family" members of the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan indians named Smith and O'Brien, and they all own a part of the biggest casinos on earth and get free health care and free college tuition. But they have their own nation. Where does our nation draw the line on what is "family?"

Personally, I'm thrilled that our son will be covered under our policy while he is at school. Yes, he'll have to move back to Connecticut to be covered until he's nearly 30. Aw, shucks. I'm not in the least bit sympathetic to the insurance industry, but somewhere there has to be a reasonable line drawn. My son is an adult. He's legally responsible for himself in every other way. Why should an insurance company be required to consider him a "child" at nearly 30 years of age? And then start accepting nieces and nephews, too?

If we had a real public option or, even better, a universal single-payer national health plan, then this wouldn't be a discussion. But, if we're going to fool ourselves into thinking that we'll be better of with a continuation of for-profit corporate health-care denial while calling it "reform," we have to accept that, in general, people will screw each other and look out for number one. If there is a loophole, a "family" of 27 is likely to find it. An insurance company is likely to deny it. People will look out for number one.

We need a level-field system wherein everyone gets what the other guy gets, health-care wise. If you're wealthy, if you can afford a fancy private hospital, whip out your wallet. Same as in every other country. But if you're just a regular tax-payin' Joe, you should still be able to count on health care, for you and your family. But only to a point. Reason and common sense have to enter into it somewhere.

[Carl]

We need a level-field system wherein everyone gets what the other guy gets, health-care wise. If you're wealthy, if you can afford a fancy private hospital, whip out your wallet. Same as in every other country. But if you're just a regular tax-payin' Joe, you should still be able to count on health care, for you and your family. But only to a point. Reason and common sense have to enter into it somewhere.

I have discoverd in life that a sure way to tell if a person is mentally stable is to see if they contradict themselves in the course of a single sentence or the very next one.

He fails.

[USA4ME]

Atman

Personally, I'm thrilled that our son will be covered under our policy while he is at school.

I find that odd.  Some of the cheapest health insurance policies you can buy are the one's offered by university's for the students.  More often than not, it's cheaper than keeping them on the parents policy, and the coverage is really good.

My son is an adult.

Which, if true, is more than you can say for his parents.

.